Nova Patents
US7931353B2

Nozzle arrangement using unevenly heated thermal actuators

Summary by NHIP

Unevenly heated PTFE nozzle

The nozzle arrangement uses radially positioned actuators with internal serpentine conductive cores surrounded by a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer to heat the layer unevenly. This uneven heating causes uneven expansion of the PTFE layer, which bends the actuators into the nozzle chamber to eject ink.

Claim Score by NHIP

Read claim 1, the broadest

Abstract

A nozzle arrangement for an inkjet printer includes a wafer defining an ink supply channel and a nozzle chamber in fluid communication with the ink supply channel; a drive circuitry layer positioned on the wafer; a plurality of actuator devices positioned on the wafer and the drive circuitry layer to cover the nozzle chamber, each actuator device having an internal serpentine conductive core surrounded by a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer; and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber. The plurality of actuator devices are radially positioned around the ink ejection port and adapted to bend into the nozzle chamber, and the internal serpentine conductive core is disposed within the PTFE layer to heat the PTFE layer unevenly.

US7931353B2, drawing sheet 1
Sheet 1 of 17

Term

Term ended

Expired 21 September 2018, 8 years ago.

  1. Priority
  2. Filed
  3. Granted
  4. Expired
  5. Today

6 claims: 1 independent, 5 dependent

  1. 1
    Broadest claimClaim Score 57, average(NHIP)A nozzle arrangement for an inkjet printer, the nozzle arrangement comprising:a wafer defining an ink supply channel and a nozzle chamber in fluid communication with the ink supply channel;a drive circuitry layer positioned on the wafer;a plurality of actuator devices positioned on the wafer and the drive circuitry layer to cover the nozzle chamber, each actuator device comprising an internal serpentine conductive core surrounded by a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer;and an ink ejection port in fluid communication with the nozzle chamber, wherein the plurality of actuator devices are radially positioned around the ink ejection port and adapted to bend into the nozzle chamber, and the internal serpentine conductive core is disposed within the PTFE layer to heat the PTFE layer unevenly.